I heard about the Asbury revival almost as soon as it started two weeks ago, a benefit of technology and my loose association with revival culture. The revival community is small but well connected. News- welcome or alarming- moves at the speed of wifi. As if by plan and within days, the revival appeared to spread across the country, from Asbury in Kentucky to cities like Austin, Charlotte, and Redding. Lots of mostly young-ish people, dancing and singing, worshipping, as if compelled to act beyond their normal capacity. This is what is called a move of the Spirit.

Because of Asbury and the Spread, revival became a hot topic of conversation within my community, the reaction of my friends diverse and revealing. Eliab is thrilled, Mario focused on the “long-term effect,” and Ryan cynical. I admit my thoughts land somewhere between what will come of this and who gives a shit. And then I remembered some old friends- Blake, George, Evan, Stephan, and Patrick- eagerly driving to Florida and California to be in the presence of a revival. When they got back, they’d pray for days, keeping the spark alive for a while. These were precious moments when spirits were high and the future certain, full of wonder and possibilities.

Eventually, for these lads, motivations shifted and life happened. Reality is no one escapes the ups and downs of human life because they we part of a revival. As I sit and type, one of them is dead, one is no longer a Christian, one is struggling with alcoholism and a divorce, and the other two are navigating lives as married men with families. And it wasn’t just us- the eager but immature- who struggled. Our entire community collapsed, despite the Holy Ghost encounters or how real it all felt.

So for these kids in Asbury or Redding, I pray they take the moment home with them. I pray they write down what they experienced, thought, and felt. I pray they form a collective memory, and tell the stories over and over. But more than that, I pray they stop, to step back from the moment. And they let the eyes of their soul swing to a wide view. The over arching message of every revival, every encounter, no matter when or where, is the Lord is good, He is real, and He loves you. And life is not a revival, an endless spiritual high. Death and failure and disappointment are coming for you. What will sustain them is what always sustains the Christian. So, my most earnest prayer for these kids is they use this momentum to dive deep into the Lord. That they would live Matthew 6:33, to seek the Lord first and always, everyday.

The Lord has chosen to love us and be in us (Emmanuel.) We must chose to love and be in Him in return.